The Acts of Jesus: Continued - Through His Body the Church
Opening Prayer:
Gracious God,
You have called us to be Your people, Your body on earth,
Empowered by Your Spirit, guided by the life You lived when You walked among us.
In Your wisdom and mercy, You have decided to continue Your work in this world through us.
Guide us, Lord. Be our vision. Be our strength.
Lead us where You would have us go, to the people You would have us meet.
In the name of Jesus, whose body we are,
Amen.
Key Scriptures:
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Acts 4:32-37
Sermon Summary
This week we continued our new teaching series “The Acts of Jesus: Continued”, journeying through the book of Acts together. Below Duane shares a brief summary of what he talked about on Sunday:
Questions to Consider:
What is the church? How is it defined? Who defines it?
What do you notice about the description of the church given in Acts 2? What stands out to you? Why?
How might this picture of the early church be descriptive (how they did it) rather than prescriptive (it must be done this way)? What advantages does seeing things this way have?
What flexibility do we have around what we as a church must do and how we do it?
Do you believe that the church really is Jesus’s active body in the world? Why?
if we believe that the church is Jesus’s body in the world, then what should we be doing about it? How do we know this?
How are you a part of Jesus’s movement to bring salvation and hope to the world?
Practices to Consider:
Read through Acts 2:42-47 together. Does your community, in some form or other, perform all the activities the early church did? Is the Holy Spirit prompting you to add further practices to your group’s rhythms, or to expand what you already do?
Prayer Prompts:
May we be a community of people defined by who Jesus says we are.
May we be empowered by his Spirit to join God in His world.
Additional Resources:
Find the full sermon recording here
For a printable version of this guide click here
If you are interested in going deeper the bible project have a helpful guide to the book of Acts, you can find it here